SAP to bring back its social programme for the Philippines’ education sector next year

Beneficiaries of the programme include the Silid Aralan Inc. (SAI) and Teach for the Philippines.

Enterprise application software provider, SAP, is planning to bring back its Social Sabbatical Programme in the Philippines next year, following its successful completion in 2015.

The Social Sabbatical is a portfolio of pro-bono volunteering programmes wherein SAP employees impart their expertise to help organisations in the education and entrepreneurship sector in emerging markets overcome the challenges hindering their growth.

One of the beneficiaries of the programme is the Silid Aralan Inc. (SAI), a non-profit organisation that provides co-learning activities for students in the Philippines. Through the programme, SAI's employees are now able to better manage their resources and identify operational areas that need more support. This thus helped SAI come up with a better operating framework.

"SAI has plans to expand our organisation and business. We aspire to develop learning hubs across the country by the year 2020. This year, we are putting up learning hubs in seven regions from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This endeavor was made possible partly because SAP Social Sabbatical team helped us improve our business model," said Arcie Mallari, founder and executive director of SAI.

"Through the programme, the SAP employee volunteers helped us develop a 'Franchise Kit' that we present to potential partners. They also linked us to possible sponsors. Now, SAI is also more financially stable," he continued.

Besides SAI, SAP employees have also helped Teach for the Philippines conduct a brand audit to enhance their branding and marketing. Teach for the Philippines is a non-profit organisation that aims to attract young professionals to mentor public school students, especially those located in remote areas in the country. After going through the programme, the organisation discovered more ways to further promote its advocacy and attract more volunteers.

"It was helpful to have a third-party review our processes. The full brand review allowed us to have a new baseline to jumpstart conversations among our team on how we want Teach for the Philippines to evolve and improve in our communications - internally and externally," said Clarissa Isabelle Delgado, co-founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines

The SAP Social Sabbatical Programme has already been introduced in 22 countries worldwide.

"SAP Social Sabbatical is our way of contributing a lasting impact to the society. This is also a big help to our country, especially in further improving education," said Ryan Poggi, managing director of SAP Philippines.